A List of Some of the Genres of Music

Have you ever thought about how many genres of music there are? There are, in fact, so many that it would be impossible to list them all here. However, if you’re interested in learning more about music as a business, and you can get a music business degree here by the way, then you do need to do a little bit of research into this. Let’s take a look at some of the genres of music that you may not have heard about, but that have been incredibly influential to the history and development of the world as a whole. They say all life started in Africa, so it is reasonable to assume music did as well.

Important African Musical Genres to Be Aware Of

Afro jazz. Afro jazz is a genre created by the marabous of Africa, which has then been adapted to fit the more current market. A good example of a band playing this type of music is Jazz Maniacs, a band from South Africa.

Chaabi, which is a music style influence by both African and Arabic cultures. It is very similar to Rai, which originates from Algeria, but Chaabi is Moroccan.

Dance Hall, which is not technically African but rather Jamaican. However, Jamaica has very strong African influences, not in the least due to the large Rastafarian movement there. Dance Hall developed during the 70s and includes dance music while a DJ raps over it.

Fuji, which originates from Nigeria. The music is traditionally used by Muslim cultures in Nigeria to wake before dawn when the Ramadan season is taking place.

Genge, which stems from Kenya. It mixes traditional African styles with dancehall and hip hop music. Usually, the lyrics are in local dialects or, most commonly, Swahili.

Isicathamiya, which is a type of style developed by the Zulu warriors in South Africa. It is a cappella, which means no instruments are used. The tones are incredibly emotive, something that is truly unique to this style.

Juju, which also stems from Nigeria. It is a style that is based on Yoruba percussion, traditional from that part of Africa. The first time juju was recorded was in the 1920 by Ojoge Daniel and Tunde King.

Kizomba, which is the traditional music from Angola. While it has existed for a long time, noticed in the Africa rhythm of the style, the lyrics are almost always in Portuguese, suggesting it actually stems from post-colonial Africa.

Lingala, which is both a style of music and a language. It is believed to be one of the most traditional forms of African music, stemming from central parts of the continent (mainly the two Congos) and believed to be the birth movement of Zouk music as well.